[M2TW AAR] Masters Of The Earth 2 : A Byzantine AAR

[asd21593]

well, bomberboy, your right on ONE of the locations, but which?

[bomberboy]

In Italy it will be rome, venice, naples.
In Hungary Budapest and Bran.

[asd21593]

new update coming tonight or tomorrow

[asd21593]

MASTERS OF THE EARTH 2

1108

The sails left from Ragusa with an excitement unparalleled. Italy was going to be Greek for the first time since Justinian. A legion of 15,000 with 35,000 mercenaries and Slavic and Italian levies sailed toward Venice. The city was now under the control of Sicily. Italy was a warring mess. Milan, after its war with France now had its capital, its very name, taken over by Venice, who just years prior just barely survived. But now Sicily was the most powerful state in Italy. Norman ambition had fueled their conquest of most of the peninsula. The Greek army departed at Venice with ambitions to take over all of Italy. Venice held most of the army of Sicily. The Normans were commanded by their hero, the conqueror of Venetia, Alberto.

THE SIEGE OF VENICE Winter 1108

Greeks – 50,000
Normans – 45,000
Greek catapults hammered away at the city. The Greek fleet entered the marshes landing troops. The east of the city was in flames before the two armies even met. First the horse archers and crossbowmen fired their arrows. But the Normans chased them away and were met with the Slavic levies. Fighting raged throughout the city, in the famed markets, the Greeks and Normans clashed, knocking over fruit stalls. Then the Norman knights charged into battle, smashing through the lightly armored Slavs. The Greek legions were forced to intervene. However, they could barely keep the Normans back from killing their archers. So the Greek cavalry, not cataphracts, but light militia cavalry, flanked the Normans and destroyed their ballistas. They then tried to surround the heavy Norman knights, but Alberto and his fearless bodyguard held them at the west of the plaza. Fire was spreading fast to the plaza and caused the Slavs to rout, leaving the outnumbered Greeks to fend for themselves. The light Greek cavalry was routed by the Norman knights and they left the crossbowmen and legionaries alone. The Normans soon surrounded the Greek legionaries and slaughtered them. At the gates of the city, the mercenary crossbowmen surprisingly fought to the death. The stand was heroic but in vain. The slaughter on both sides was horrific.
Greeks – 47,000
Normans – 36,000

The aftermath of the battle was humiliating for the Greeks. The first wave of their invasion was slaughtered by Norman knights and militia. It ruined Greece’s reputation with the West. But, militarily, it was not a big problem for Greece; however it was a big problem for Sicily. While the Normans won the battle, most of the Venetian garrison was destroyed. And this was the largest army in the kingdom. Sicily had to raise an army quick enough in the fortress of Palermo, to defend against the coming second wave. The second wave, from Sofia, was highly trained, and there were no levies or mercenaries. It was an orderly 4 legions, 60,000 men, ready to take down Italy. In other world news, Egypt had lost Alexandria and the Sinai to a rebellion, and the Sinai was picked up by Greece. Also, the Germans were almost certainly gone soon, while France was falling, while Venice and Milan were warring. Western Europe was still engulfed in war and Greece may have made a mistake in entering it.











this is my craziest m2tw campaign yet!!!, HRE as usual gets pwned, milan awesome, danes powerful, russia and poland pwning,england good, this is crazy!!!!!

[bomberboy]

I KNOW! THIS REALLY IS CRAZY!!!

[asd21593]

ps- the only nations NOT at war are scotland and the papacy

second wave tomorrow with maybe more!

asd

i have never had a campaign like this before, the most surprising empire is russia, they have never been so powerful in any campaign i have ever played

[asd21593]

what the hell?!?!

yesterdays posts are gone!!!!

my previews!!!!!



The Storm



Carthage, the city of gold and steel. The land of wealth and power. Oh, hear me Carthage, the world eyes you with jealousy! Baal, god of the skies, send our enemies a storm! Carthage will rise! We cannot sit idly while the Greeks rise in the east, the Romans rise in the north, and the Iberians raid our outposts! Peace is gone, only Baal can save us now. There can only be war! Carthage, heed my words, we must rise to the skies!

Freedom!



Conquerers come and go, but Scotland still remains. The Romans built walls to stop us, the Vikings raided and stole in cowardice! Now the Normans, those bastard English look upon our fair hills! All my people want is a kingdom of our own, but the Earth always strives to take it away! No longer! A kingdom is not good enough for the fair people of Scotland, only empire can save our children! Europe will tremble as the great Celts explode out of Britain and into the mainland! The mainland have always sent their hordes at us, now we must send our hordes at them! Scotland, muster your arms, shoulder your shields, we go to war!

Warriors Of Ararat



Ararat, the holy mountain! Your mist watches over our people. We are the ones of the mountain. We are content under your holy eyes. But great empires arise around us. Soon they will envelop our puny mountain kingdom and we shall be slaves. So, I bid your slopes goodbye! I shall lead my people to imperial glory! And Armenia will rule the ends of the earth! We shall fight and make war until the great empires are gone and the age of Armenia had arrived!

The Warrior Popes



Last night, an angel came to me! He told me of wars and peace, of death and love, of hate and happiness! He told me prophecies of conquest and of the falls of great empires. I now know my mission. The infidel rules the Holy Land, and the barbarian rules Europe. And through all this, the church has sat and done nothing! We are but men, and we cannot turn the other cheek anymore! The church will rise through just war...in God's Name!



COMING 2007

well, rewrote the previews, and sorry no updates today

dont blame me, blame the crash last night

asd

[LeonidasOfSparta]

no prob, keep writing

Leonidas

[bomberboy]

Asd I wonder what will happen next is it a surprise.

[asd21593]

Asd I wonder what will happen next is it a surprise.

well..............

____________________________SPOILERS___________________________


































crusade, oh no!

















sicily loses their military power, they now have one army that could even challenge the second wave

[asd21593]

mega-update coming hopefully today, it will take a while to update all those screenies on imageshack

[asd21593]

well, the new update isnt going to have as many screens as i expected due to technical difficulties, i am writing it as we speak!

[asd21593]

MASTERS OF THE EARTH 2

1109 - 1115

In the winter of 1108, Greece suffered a humiliating defeat in then Norman Venice. But in the spring of 1109, the skilled second wave of the Greek invasion arrived on the shores of Sicily. Palermo was the premier citadel in all of Italy. To capture it would boost Greek morale, their reputation, and destroy the best fortress the Normans had.

THE SIEGE OF PALERMO March 1109 – May 1110

Greek Forces – 70,000
Norman Forces – 60,000
The 70,000 strong Greek legions marched toward the fortress with catapults and trebuchets. They easily destroyed the outer walls as the Normans retreated to the keep. After a summer and winter of siege, the Greeks penetrated the inner walls and exacted an appalling slaughter of civilians and soldiers alike as revenge for Venice.
Greek Casualties – 10,000
Norman Casualties – 90,000(including civilians)



The Pope was not happy about the Orthodox incursions in Italy. He knew that soon the Greeks would turn towards Rome and the rest of Catholic Europe. Orthodox missionaries in Northern Italy had converted 30% of Venetia to Orthodoxy. He knew that he had to take drastic measures. He called a crusade against Greece. He called for the killing of fellow Christians. Greece was about to enter its bloodiest war, and it would keep the title until the Mongols came.

THE CRUSADE 1111-1115
Greek Forces Involved – 200,000
Catholic Forces Involved – 500,000
At first, many leaders were apprehensive about joining this “crusade.” But the Pope’s promises were too good. Western kingdoms settled for peace, amassed their forces, and marched to Hungary, for the march across the Danube. At bridges along the river they clashed. East met West in brutal confrontations all along the river banks.





Eventually, the Crusaders were able to push through Greek defenses and pillaged the fields of Bulgaria. On a hot night in 1113 came the largest single massacre of the war. About 100,000 pilgrims broke off from the main group, which was led by kings and nobles. They encountered the feared Greek horse archers. On an open field, nearly all of them were massacred. The delusional, scarcely armed pilgrims could not withstand the arrows.





When the caravan of thousands of carts appeared at the Crusader headquarters of Bucharest with 100,000 bodies, the Westerners fled in terror. All of the countries of the Crusade, except Hungary itself, pulled its forces out of Greece in fear. In 1114, Hungary amassed a heavily armored force of 100,000, nearly its entire army, for a crusade against the primary center of Greek Imperial Military, Sofia. Sofia was defended by 50,000 men. Outnumbered, the Greeks left the outer walls undefended from the start. The mass of men stayed in the castle keep and waited while Hungarian forces sieged the inner walls. Then, the Greeks ran from the keep, “like wildmen” said a Hungarian historian, and crushed the Hungarians on the walls. The Greek cataphracts rushed from the inner gates and into Hungarian formations. The effect was overwhelming and the crusaders routed. They were killed as they fled.
Total Greek Casualties – 70,000
Total Catholic Casualties – 300,000





The Crusade effectively made the divisions between the Eastern and Western churches permanent. There could be no reconciliation now. The West had unleashed the Greek’s fury. But all the nations involved in the Crusade literally begged for peace. They vowed to amass an army of 10,000 men and march on Rome, kill the Pope, and install a pro-Greek one. They did and peace with the West, except Sicily, was sealed.

The war with the Normans was continuing and the second wave had crossed into mainland Italy from Sicily. They soon discovered that the Sicilians had more forces then they expected.

[bomberboy]

I thought you said this one didn't have any pics in it, or the next one. Anyway great update.

[asd21593]

bomberboy
i said not as many screenshots, compared to the amount intended, about 5 screens are missing because imageshack was all screwed up

anyone who might want to help out with strategy
here is the current state -
________________________SPOILERS________________________________________
































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8888888888888888currently i have captured naples, there was a bloody siege i won, but there were many casualties, the second wave is severly weakened, especially cavalry, and there is a full sicilian stack of good units near naples, i am thinking about recruiting a new army in ragusa, maybe just vardariotai and sending it over, but it might take a while, so if you are reading this, post a reply or pm me if you have a strategy about how i can defeat norman sicily's best and last stack with my weakened forces currently in naples, remember, i cant be aggressive, because this force could easily beat me and if i lose the second wave, then the whole italian campaign in lost for years it will take tricky tactics to beat them so send your strategies soldier 88
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[bomberboy]

Loook for High ground. press m to merge units together. Then wait for them to attack. Oh and recruit those vardarotai.

[asd21593]

thanks bomberboy, i never knew you could merge units, i'll play right now!

edit : i know what you mean about merging units, i usually do it by dragging the unit cards, you got my hopes up i thought i literally merge, for example, two full units together


asd

[bomberboy]

Anytime.

[asd21593]

THE WAR IS OVER, THE WAR IS OVER!!!

there is now peace with the west, now lets get rid of those pesky egyptians, take baghdad, and wait for the mongols,

stayed tuned for the details in the next update

[asd21593]

MASTERS OF THE EARTH 2

1116 – 1120

The second wave of the Greek invasion easily captured Naples in 1117 without a fight. King Gherardo and his massive army were away from Naples and could not relieve the civilians. However, later another army of Normans arrived at the gates of Naples to siege the Greeks. The Greeks beat the smaller army off, but suffered heavy casualties. The second wave could not match the horde of King Gherardo. So in Ragusa, a speedy training of 4,000 horse archers was completed. The “cavalry-comfortable” Magyars and Slavs sailed across the Adriatic Sea to Italy. Meanwhile, General Tryfillios Malesses and an army of 15,000 mercenaries were sailing to the last Norman city, Bologna. The 4,000 archers attacked King Gherardo’s army from the front. Meanwhile, Tryfillios sieged Bologna. The 4,000 horse archers faced off against the 80,000 heavy Sicilians. The Greeks formed the famed Cantabrian Circles and fired their arrows. The heavy knights could not catch up to the fast mounted archers. About half of Gherardo’s army was killed.



Then, Tryfillios captured Bologna easily while it was barely defended. Word reached Gherardo that his kingdom was gone and he committed suicide. His army then surrendered and dispersed. Bologna was renamed Tryfillia, in Tryfillios’ honor. And Naples was renamed Dragania, after its captor and current governor Draganos of Athos. Emperor Yiannis The Chivalrous called a meeting on Malta, where most of the leaders of Christendom met. They announced peace between the East and West and vowed to eliminate the Muslim threat. In 1120, Emperor Yiannis died at the age of 57 from, most likely, cancer. He spent his entire reign in Jerusalem, the city he famously captured. He bore many daughters, but no sons. So the crown went to his childhood friend Eleftherios Asemopoulos. The Great Western War was finally over. The Greek Empire was wealthy and the most powerful nation in the world. Egypt was ready to fall.

Europe 1120


soon, i will conquer egypt, they are very numerous, but of lesser quality, lets see how it turns out,

what should i do after that? i am playing on 0.50 per turn, and it is 1120, about 90 years until the Mongols, and that is 180 turns, what could i do? send posts or pm me for ideas